The 46-year-old is already a popular figure with sci-fi fans for his work on the Star Trek franchise, as well as a collection of critical and commercial TV hits.

Abrams got his first big break as a movie writer at the beginning of the 1990s, penning films such as Regarding Henry and Forever Young, and eventually progressed to the director's chair for projects like Mission: Impossible III and Super 8.

On the small screen, Abrams created the college-based series Felicity, before cementing his reputation for producing cult hits with Alias, Lost and Fringe.

Digital Spy looks back at JJ Abrams's career so far on both the big and small screen below:

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George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy and JJ Abrams discuss the future of Star Wars.
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